city

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See also: City

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English cite, from Old French cite, from Late Latin cīvitātem (city), in Classical Latin "citizenry", derived from cīvis (fellow-citizen), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (lie down; settle).

Cognate with Old English hīwan pl (members of one's household, servants). See hewe. Doublet of civitas.

Mostly displaced native Old English burg, whence Modern English borough.

Pronunciation

Part of New York City, a large city with many tall buildings.
Despite its small size, Wells is a city because of its cathedral.

Noun

city (plural cities)

  1. A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.
    São Paulo is the largest city in South America.
    • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 147, column 2:
      Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?
    • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      So this was my future home, I thought! [] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
    • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
      One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.
    • 2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, page 42:
      All our stations have changed. We have to constrain numbers. We have to mandate face coverings. These are massive changes in what is a public transport city. This is not a car city.
  2. (UK) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
    • 1976, Cornelius P. Darcy, The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Lancashire, 1760-1860, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 20:
      Manchester, incorporated in 1838, was made the centre of a bishopric in 1847 and became a city in 1853. Liverpool was transformed into a city by Royal Charter when the new diocese of Liverpool was created in 1880.
    • 2014, Graham Rutt, Cycling Britain's Cathedrals Volume 1, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 307:
      St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.
  3. (Australia) The central business district; downtown.
    I'm going into the city today to do some shopping.
  4. (slang) A large amount of something (used after the noun).
    It’s video game city in here!

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Place names ending in City

Pages starting with “city”.

Related terms

Descendants

  • French: City
  • German: City
  • Italian: city
  • Swedish: city
  • Russian: си́ти (síti)

Translations

See also

Further reading

  • "city" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 55.

Anagrams

Czech

Pronunciation

Noun

city

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of cit

Finnish

Etymology

From English city

Pronunciation

Noun

city

  1. (anglicism) Synonym of liikekeskusta (central business district)

Declension

Inflection of city (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative city cityt
genitive cityn cityjen
partitive cityä cityjä
illative cityyn cityihin
singular plural
nominative city cityt
accusative nom. city cityt
gen. cityn
genitive cityn cityjen
partitive cityä cityjä
inessive cityssä cityissä
elative citystä cityistä
illative cityyn cityihin
adessive cityllä cityillä
ablative cityltä cityiltä
allative citylle cityille
essive citynä cityinä
translative cityksi cityiksi
abessive cityttä cityittä
instructive cityin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of city (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative cityni cityni
accusative nom. cityni cityni
gen. cityni
genitive cityni cityjeni
partitive cityäni cityjäni
inessive cityssäni cityissäni
elative citystäni cityistäni
illative cityyni cityihini
adessive citylläni cityilläni
ablative cityltäni cityiltäni
allative citylleni cityilleni
essive citynäni cityinäni
translative citykseni cityikseni
abessive cityttäni cityittäni
instructive
comitative cityineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative citysi citysi
accusative nom. citysi citysi
gen. citysi
genitive citysi cityjesi
partitive cityäsi cityjäsi
inessive cityssäsi cityissäsi
elative citystäsi cityistäsi
illative cityysi cityihisi
adessive citylläsi cityilläsi
ablative cityltäsi cityiltäsi
allative cityllesi cityillesi
essive citynäsi cityinäsi
translative cityksesi cityiksesi
abessive cityttäsi cityittäsi
instructive
comitative cityinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative citymme citymme
accusative nom. citymme citymme
gen. citymme
genitive citymme cityjemme
partitive cityämme cityjämme
inessive cityssämme cityissämme
elative citystämme cityistämme
illative cityymme cityihimme
adessive cityllämme cityillämme
ablative cityltämme cityiltämme
allative cityllemme cityillemme
essive citynämme cityinämme
translative cityksemme cityiksemme
abessive cityttämme cityittämme
instructive
comitative cityinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative citynne citynne
accusative nom. citynne citynne
gen. citynne
genitive citynne cityjenne
partitive cityänne cityjänne
inessive cityssänne cityissänne
elative citystänne cityistänne
illative cityynne cityihinne
adessive cityllänne cityillänne
ablative cityltänne cityiltänne
allative cityllenne cityillenne
essive citynänne cityinänne
translative cityksenne cityiksenne
abessive cityttänne cityittänne
instructive
comitative cityinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative citynsä citynsä
accusative nom. citynsä citynsä
gen. citynsä
genitive citynsä cityjensä
partitive cityään
cityänsä
cityjään
cityjänsä
inessive cityssään
cityssänsä
cityissään
cityissänsä
elative citystään
citystänsä
cityistään
cityistänsä
illative cityynsä cityihinsä
adessive cityllään
cityllänsä
cityillään
cityillänsä
ablative cityltään
cityltänsä
cityiltään
cityiltänsä
allative citylleen
cityllensä
cityilleen
cityillensä
essive citynään
citynänsä
cityinään
cityinänsä
translative citykseen
cityksensä
cityikseen
cityiksensä
abessive cityttään
cityttänsä
cityittään
cityittänsä
instructive
comitative cityineen
cityinensä

Compounds

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English city. Doublet of città.

Pronunciation

Noun

city f (invariable)

  1. city (financial district of a city)

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ city in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Middle English

Noun

city

  1. Alternative form of cite

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English city.

Pronunciation

Noun

city n

  1. inner city, the commercial centre of a medium-sized or larger city
    Lite närmare city, i närheten av konstmuseet, ligger Norrköpings mest attraktiva lägenheter.
    A little closer to the town centre, next to the art museum, you'll find Norrköping's most attractive apartments.
    Det finns mycket att förbättra i vårt city.
    There are many things that need improvement in our inner city.

Usage notes

  • centrum is used for the commercial centre of suburbs and small or medium-sized towns.

Synonyms